By Deanna Tran
By Deanna TranLouisville Cardinal
More than 200 students braved the rain to attend the first annual Community Service Fair here at the University of Louisville, held on Sept. 11.The event was sponsored by the University of Louisville Metro Rotaract, the Student Activity Board and the Service Learning Program. On a day appropriate for honoring service and sacrifice, the students at the fair were introduced to countless ways on how to give back to the community from more than 40 participating booths. All of the booths were representing non-profit organizations.All booths of the first annual Community Service Fair, which was originally supposed to be held on the West Lawn, were forced to seek refuge below the balcony of the Student Activities Center, away from the rain. Brittney Ridge, president of the U of L’s Metro Rotaract and a senior sports medicine major, said that although the rain was a factor, “It is still really amazing that about 225 students showed up at our first fair despite the rain.”Not only did attendance prove successful but Ridge said every booth had at least 20 students expressing interest in volunteering. The fair connected students to a large collection, diverse and unique, of community service ideas and opportunities. Students could easily find a NPO dedicated to a specialized group in need such as the disabled, children, families, animals and the elderly. “Recognizing all these different opportunities is what this festival is about,” said Ridge.Attributing to the fair’s success was the need for community collaboration between NPOs and college students. Sabrina Casonova, SAB Vice Chair of Special Interests and a senior psychology and communications major, said participating NPOs, “were highly interested in coming because they wanted young people to volunteer.” Volunteerism plays a big part in many of U of L’s recognized student organizations. Junior anthropology major and Community Service chair of Kappa Sigma, Addison Warner described community service as a “personal obligation – part of an organization or not.”According to Warner, all members of Greek organizations on campus are required to complete a certain number of community service hours per semester. Delta Zeta requires their members to complete at least 15 hours of community service per semester, according to the organization’s Philanthropy Chair Julie Cooper, a junior majoring in nursing, but she added that “most members go above and beyond.” Members from both Greek organizations attended the Community Service Fair. The service chairs of Sigma Kappa, which has worked to support the Disability Resource Center this year, and Delta Zeta, which has worked annually with the Louisville School of the Oral and Deaf.Both said the fair offered their organization new community service ideas towards their national philanthropy. The fair, Cooper said, “definitely gave us ideas [to bring] back to the chapter which will give us more opportunities and more options for helping out the community…It’s always fun to do different things.”Aside from informative booths and interaction between students and NPOs, the fair expanded its exhibition on community service with keynote speaker Woody Northup, of the Downtown Rotary Club, to speak about the value of volunteerism.Free food was also provided in the Red Barn to students who actively participated. Ridge said this year’s fair was a success0 and the first of many more to come.
